ver, and the
doctor allowed that he could now be trusted to travel.

On this night they had halted at a point where a road, running east
and west, crossed the great road to the Crimea. Before starting, the
boys had a long chat with their friend the doctor, who furnished them
with military passes which he had procured from an officer. These
testified that Ivan Petrofski and Alexis Meranof, of the 5th Polish
Regiment, were proceeding home on sick-furlough.

The signature of the colonel was no doubt fictitious, but this
mattered but little. Jack inquired whether their absence in the
morning would not be likely to be remarked; but the doctor said that
the head of the party had been informed by Demetri that the two
strangers would only accompany them for a few days' march, and had
only been hired to satisfy the authorities that the right number of
men had been furnished, for the want of hands on the estate was now so
great owing to the heavy drain of conscripts to fill up the losses
caused by the war, that the count had been glad to retain the services
of the two who had been left behind. There was therefore to be no
remark concerning the disappearance of the new hands, but the others
were to take charge of their carts, and if possible the authorities
were to be kept unacquainted with the fact that their number was
incomplete.

The peasants' dresses were now exchanged for the uniforms of Russian
soldiers. Dick's head was wrapped in bandages, and his arm placed in a
sling. Jack's leg was also enveloped in bandages, the trousers being
slit up to the hip, and the sides loosely tied together by a piece of
string, and the doctor gave him a pair of crutches, the same as those
used in regimental hospitals.

"Now you will do," he said, surveying them by the light of a lantern.
"Many of the soldiers who have joined since the outbreak of the war
are mere boys, so your age will not be against you, only pray for a
time give up all idea as to the necessity of washing. The dirtier your
hands and faces, the better, especially if the dirt will hide your
clear healthy color, which is very unlike the sallow complexions
almost universal among our peasantry. And now, good-bye. I move about
too much to hope to receive any letter from you, but as you have of
course arranged with Count Preskoff to send him word when you have
safely crossed the frontier, I shall hear of you from him."

With many deep and hearty thanks for the kindness he had